Feeding device for sheet material



Oct. 28, 1952 E. c. SAUERMAN FEEDING D EVICE FOR SHEET MATERIAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1948 mw QM m M E. c. SAUERMAN 2,615,390

FEEDING DEVICE FOR SHEET MATERIAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 fiZZ/BJ'ZZOW 79253- Cjaaer'z zanz J mrv'ze y' Oct. 28, 1952 Flled June 5 1948 1952 E. c. SAUERMAN FEEDING DEVICE FOR SHEET MATERIAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 5, 1948 Oct. 28, 1952, c A ER 2,615,390

FEEDING DEVICE FOR SHEET MATERIAL.

Filed June 5, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 In fie 7z 0 7".- frvzaz Cja aer'zizarc Patented Oct. 28, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTJOFF'ICEQf' FEEDING DEVICE FOR SHEET MATERIAL Ernst C.,Sauerman, Chicago, Ill I liplllication June 5, 1948, Serial No. 31,338

from a hopper or the like to a pair of coacting rolls, and refers particularly to a feeding-device for feeding folded printing cards from a hopper to a pair .of pressure rolls where said card is brought into printing or duplicating relationship with a continuously advancing web to imprint indicia from said printing cards upon said web.

One of the objectsof the present invention resides in the provision of means for periodically removing the lowermost folded sheet from a stack of such sheets and conveying the removed sheet forwardly to an operating station.

Another important object of the invention resides in the provision of means for conveying the folded sheets aforesaid from the stack of sheets to the operating station at a predetermined linear speed,'and feeding said sheets in the operating station between opposed rolls whose peripheral Fig. 2 is a plan sectional view takenbnline 2-2 of Fig. 1'. t

Fig. 3 is adetailed View of one of the [sheetengaging fingers about to disengage itself 'fromja foldedsheet. g I

Figl is a sectional View taken on'1ine 4.'-4

Of Fig. 3.

speed is different from the speed of feeding whereby said'sheets pass between said rolls in overlapping relationship. I

An important feature of. the invention comprises meansfor. overlapping the sheets between the rolls which can be conveniently changed to change the degree of overlap of the sheets between the rolls.

Another important feature of the invention resides in means which positively conveys the sheets forwardly to the operating station at a predetermined speed and' which disengages from said sheets at the 'moment'or slightly prior. thereto that the sheet is brought. under the control of the slower moving conveying elements at said station, whereby injury to the sheet is prevented at the period of transition of traveling speeds of the sheet.

Another important object of the present invention resides in the provision of a folded sheet or maximum degree of overlapping at the printing station.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and following detailed description.

Inthe drawings,

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional 'view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2. v 'f Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional v'ie w taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1. r

Fig. 7 is a detailedview of one of the engaging fingers about to be reset to engagingposition. Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing, the

position of the finger at a-.- phase shortlyafter that illustrated in Fig.6. a

Fig. 10 is a detailed plan viewof the'conveyor illustrating: the function and operation of the conveyor fingers. w

Fig. 11 isa face view an inverted stack ofprinti'ng" cards usabliliivith the presentmachine. j a

, Fig. 12 is an end view ofYth'ev card shown in Fig. 11. I Fig. 13 is a viewbf thereverse face. of the card illustratedinFig.11.

Fig. 14 is a sectional viewof an invertedstack 'of cards, taken on line I'lllll .of Fig; l1..

\ Referring particularly toithedrawingsi, I "indicates the base of myimproved' machine; a pair of side frame members 2 being niountedup0n said base in vertical position and. inspaced'parallel relationship. The sideffl'frame'. members 2 are maintained in spaced relationshipby means of transverse bar '3 which may bese'cured to the opposite frame m'embers by means ,ofjbo'lts or the like 4. The frame members are alsointe'rconnected by transverse rods 5 and 6,,fs'hown best inFigs.2and6."

A shaft 1. is journalled at. its opposite. ends in the opposite frame members 2 and a second shaft 8 is similarly journalled at the opposite endof the machine; .A pair of sprocket wheels '9 are carried upon the shaft f1 and aredisposedadjacent the inner faces of the side members 2; Similarly a pair of sprocket wheels Ii! are carried upon shaft 8 adjacent the inner faces of the side members 2 and in alignment with the respective sprocket wheels '9 upon shaft 7.

An electric motor. II is mounted upon base i adjacent the machine,- said motor being coupled with a conventional speed. reducing mechanism of .the bottom .cardfiof v vary, as

:2. The output shaft l3 of the speed reducer I2 carries a grooved pulley l4 over which a belt is trained. Shaft 8 on one side of the machine extends outwardly from its supporting frame member 2 and carries a grooved wheel it over which the belt 15 is alsotrained whereby shaft 8 is rotated by the motor I l.

A sprocket chain IT is trained around one pair of sprocket wheels, 9 and I0 and a sprocket chain, I8 is similarly trained around the remaining pair of sprocket wheels 9 and Hi, the ath of travel of the sprocket chains at their upper passes being adjacent the upper edges of the frame members 2.

A pair of upwardly extending standards G9 are secured to the opposite frame members 2 adjacent one end of the machine. 'This endof the machine will hereinafter be referred to as the delivery end. A shaft isjournalled at its ends in bearings 2! carried bythe opposite standards 19, and one end of said shaft extends outwardly from one of the standards. Gear wheel 22 is mounted upon the'outwardly extending end of the shaft 20, said gear wheel being adapted to engage with pinion 23 carried uponthe end of shaft 8; A rubber covered roll 24 is mounted upon an intermediate portion of shaft 26 for purposes which will be hereinafter more'fully described.

A steel or other hard surfaced roll is posi-"- tioned beneath roll 24 in slightly ofiset vertical relationship with said latter roll. Roll 25 is carried upon a shaft 2%, the opposite ends of which are journalled in the ends of a pair of'bell crank levers 21 and 28, shown best in Fig. 6. The bell crank lever 27 is journalled intermediate its length upon a stub shaft 2e carried by one of the frame members 2 and the bell crank lever 23"is journalled intermediate its length upon a similar shaft 33 carried upon the opposite frame member 2. Coil springs 31 are connected respectively at their. ends to theends of the bell crank levers 21 and 28, and both of said springs are anchored upon rod 6 at their opposite ends, as shown best in- Fig. 5.

The arrangement is such that roll 25 is urged upwardly into pressure contact with roll 24 by means of the tension in springs 31, said springs tending to rock levers Zl and 28 upon their respective shafts 29 and 30.

Broadly,the primary function of my invention is to feed sheet'material forwardly from a supply station to an operating-station. The character ofthe sheet material which is fed forwardly may for instance, it may comprise printing units, that is, elements which may be used to transfer indiciacarried -by said units to another I liquid.

From the physical point of view, apart from specific function, the units fed forwardly are relatively flat so that they can be conveniently stacked and may comprise cardboard, paper, 'Celluloid or like plastic sheet material, thin metal or the like, and they are so constructed as to provide a channel, a fold in the case of a cardboard card or the like, whereby conveying members may engage to carry the same forwardly. From a physical aspect the operating station, apart from its function, preferably comprises rotating members which act to carry the unit delivered thereto for:

wardly in addition to performing a specific funcadjacent the opposite end to form a panel 34.

The panel 34 is adhesively secured to the main cardbody 35, said portion of the card being provided with an elongated-aperture 36, one side of which is defined by the fold 31 which joins the flap to the main body 35. The inner face of the flap comprises a portion 38 which appears through the aperture 36. Upon that ortion 38 of the flap which is visible through aperture 36, indicia 39 are carried, the indicia comprising information which may be inscribed upon the portion 38 by an ink which can be rendered transferable when moistened with a predetermined A plurality of cards 32 are adapted to be stacked, as shown best at Ml in Figs. 1 and 5 in a hopper M. The hopper 4| may comprise frame members 42 which define a space so dimensioned as to accommodate the cards 32. The frame members comprising the hopper M are secured by means of brackets 43 (Fig. 2) to the cross bar 3, the brackets 43 being provided with slots 44 in which screws 45 are positioned whereby the hopper 41 may be adjustably positioned relative to the length of the machine.

Adjacent the rear-end of the hoppenthat is, the end which is secured to the brackets 43, the frame members are bent inwardly and upwardly as shown best at 4B in Fig. 5 whereby the lowermost card 32 of the stack &6 is carried adjacent the edge of the card 32 which carries panel 34.

A pair of T-shaped brackets 41 are secured to the cross bar 5 adjacent the forward end of the sheet or web, or said sheet material may com- I prise units which are adaptedto be printed upon,

such as envelopes. In each case, of course, the character of the operating station will vary. For example, if the sheet materialunits which are fed forwardly comprise printing units, the operating stationmay comprise simple pressure rolls between which the units transfer their indicia to a, sheet or web which maybe passed between the rolls in company with the units. If the sheet material units'comprise elements which are to be printed upon, such as envelopes, the

operating station may comprise type-carrying rolls, or printing elements which print upon the envelopes fed forwardly. Obviously, therefore, my invention in itsfbroadest aspect is not to be limited to the specific type of elements fed forwardly orthe specific function of the operating station to which the elements are fed;

hopper M. Cross portions 48 of the T-shaped members i? are secured to the upright portions of the T-shaped members by means of screws 69. An end 50 of each of the cross members 58 projectsbeneath the forward portion of hopper ti and is spaced from the lower portion of said hopper. stack 46 of cards 32 is positioned in the hopper, the stack being arranged with the flaps 33 of the cards disposed downwardly, the lowermost card is supported along one edge by the inturned flanges 4t and the opposite edge of the card is supported by the ends 58, of the cross members 48. However, as the cards approach the lowermost position, the lowermost card slides laterally V 'to the main body portion 35 of the lowermost card 32. The position of the hopper 4! with respect to the chains H and i8 is such that the It can readily be seen that when the hereinafter-more fully .described.

7 other.

As the chainsv moveand a pair of b1ocks-52 pass 33 drops to. apositionib'etween the upper "passes of said chains.

-A plurality of .blOcks 52 are positioned upon each chainfll "and I8, the blocks on each chain v ..being spaced from each other andthe blocks on opposite .chains being in alignment with each other. Each block 52 carries a bell-crank lever 53lhavinga finger '54 and an arm 55, the bellcrank'lever in each case being pivotally secured to a block by means of screw '55, A pinBTis carried upon each block between finger 54' and arm 55 and functions as a stop to limit the position .of either finger'54 or arm 55 when said lever ispivote d about screw 56, as will be hereinafter i'morejfully described. v V a Airail58 is mounted upon the'to of each side frame member 2 and is secured thereto by means of screws 59 which pass through slots 50 provided in each rail whereby said rails can be adjusted and secured in adesired adjusted position longitudinally along said frame members It will be notedthat one end of each. of the rails "58 is positioned above the sprocket wheels'9 and I the opposite ends of the rails are disposed along a'transverse line in advance of the nip between rolls and 25. The purpose, and importance of this positioning of the, rail ends,'or more strictly speaking, of the railsthemselves will be A- pair of chain-supporting tracks '81 are l. mounted upon the inner faces of the side'frlame members 2, one track being positioned in supportingrelationship with each chainat its upper pass, eachchain riding upon'a trucki Atthe end I of the machine adjacent the operating station an arcuate plate 52 is positioned adjacent each .chain,.said plates at their upper portion are each secured, .by means .of a screw 63 or the like to' thickness upon the surface of the flap 33 is less than the thickness of the card proper and, hence, the main body 35 of the card protects the typed matter 39 from coming into contact with the rear face of the flap of the card immediately above.

, In addition, as can readily be seen by reference 'to;Fig. 5, by virtue of the manner in which cards are-supported in the hopper, the flap 33 of the lowermost card drops downwardly and, consequently, that portion of the flap which carries the typed matter 39 is removed from the rear face of the fiap of the card immediately above. Consequently, although the ink or other matter employed to form the type 39 may be of appreciable thickness, and may readily be removed by contact orabrasion, it is protected from such'removal both by the structure of the hopper and by the structure 'of the card itself.

After leaving the hopper the card 32 engaged by the fingers 54 is carried forwardly by the chainsr The levers 53 during engagement with the fold of the card 32 are prevented from being rocked by virtue of the drag offered by the card because'of contact of the arms 55 with the rails 58. Just before the car enters the nip of the rolls 24 and 25 or simultaneously therewith, the

fingers 55 of the levers 53 contact upstanding edges 56 of plates 62, said edges being disposed the inner face of track 61.. .At their lower portion the plates. are secured to the opposite frame members 2 by means of screws 64, the plates being spaced'from the inner faces of the frame members by means of block 65 through which screws 64 pass. By means of tracks 6| and blocks 65 the plates are disposed with their outer faces adjacent the-inner sides of the chains.

; Inithe operationof the device, when the motor L -l'l"is energized, the sprocket wheels Iii act to drive the sprocket chains l1 and I8. It-will be noted that the sprocket chains are so disposed in the path of travel of the fingers '54. When such contact is made the levers 53 have travelled beyond the ends of the'rails 5B and, consequently, said levers are'rocked about their pivot points 55 so as to dispose the fingers 54 parallel to the chains I l and 18. It will be'noted, therefore, that the fingers 54 are retracted from the fold ofthe card 32 simultaneously with or immediately prior to the card being delivered to the nip of rolls 24 and 25.

that their outer lateral facesare positioned adjacent the inner faces of the respective frame members 2. Consequently, during the lowerypass of said chains, armsare maintained parallel .to the inner faces of the frame members, that is said arms are-disposed-parallel to the lengthof the chains.

Consequently, the fingers 54 ofthe levers 63 are disposed at right anglesto thelength of the chains and'extend inwardly toward each beneath the hopper 4f, the fingers54carriedby .the opposite blocks engage in the fold of the lowermost card .32, that is, the fold made by the connection of the flap, 33 andmainbody portion '35 of thecar'd. It will be noted that the lowermost .card, in shifting laterally with respect .to

stack '40, causes the fia of said .card to swing downwardly, opening up the fold .toa predetermined degree and thereby permitting the ready entrance of the fingers 54 into engagement'with said'fold. As the chains move forwardly, the

lowermost card 32 is thus extracted from the stack 40 and is carried forwardly by the engage- .ment of the fingers 54 in the fold of the card.

The limiting positions of the fingers 54. by virtue of their contact with the edges 66 are determined'by the pins 51. The opposite blocks 52 after passing beyond the rolls 24 and 25, are carried around thesprocket wheels It. When said blocks enter upon the lower pass of the chains, the arms 55 are contacted 'by the rear edges of the frame members 2 and, hence, the

I levers 53 are again rocked to'operative position,

' chains Hand I8.

that is, that position wherein the fingers 54 are disposed at right angles to the length of the As a feature of my invention, the drive of roll 24 is so constructed that the peripheral speed of said roll is materially slower than the linear speed of the chains ll and I8. Consequently, the cards carried by the chains move rapidly from the hopper to a point immediately in front of the nip of the rolls 24 and 25. However, when saidcard enters the nip, its motion is slowed down appreciably to the rate of the peripheral speed ofthe roll 24. The peripheral speedof the roll All-relative to the linear speed'of chains l1 and I8 is preferably such that .a plurality of cards will be positioned in the nip-of the rolls Hand 25 fatall times, said cards being disposed in said nip in overlapping,relationship. Of course, the number of pairs of blocks52 carried by the chains also enters as a factor in determining the number of overlapping cards which pass through the nip in a predetermined period of time. It is to be understood, of course, that as many pairs of blocks 52 as desired maybe employed, since the number of overlapping cards in the nip can be controlled by the relative speed of the chains and the peripheral speed of the roll 24.

The desired overlap of the cards in the nip of the rolls 2d and 25 is such thatthe fold of one card within the nip.that is, the fold between the main body of the card 35 and the flap '33, is disposed along the opposite longitudinal edge of the aperture 38 from the edge which comprises a continuation of the fold of the card immediate- 1y beneath. Preferably the width of the cards is such that three. or four cards will be disposed in overlapping relationship between the rolls 24 and 25. However, the number of cards disposed in overlapping relationship in the nip is a factor which can easily be determined by any one skilled in the art to adoptthe machine to a predetermined operation.

It can readily be seen that one of the important advantages of my invention resides in the fact that cards may be withdrawn from the hopper GI and carried forwardly at a relatively rapid rate;

the card can then be slowed down in its passage between rolls 24 and 25 so that an adequate printing or transferring operation may be performed. Yet, although the cards during a major portion of their travel from the hopper to the rolls, are positively conveyed, the agency which engages the cards retracts from the fold of the cards immediately upon the delivery of the cards to the nip.

As another feature of my invention, it will be noted that the lowermost roll 251s offset forwardly from roll 24. As the cards are carried forwardly by the chains H and [8, they are disposed substantially parallel to the plane of the upper pass of the. chains which usually is horizontally. When, however, the cards are engaged by the rolls 24 and 25, the forward portion of the cards are canted upwardly by the overset rolls and, hence, the nextcard entering the nip will be disposed above thepreceding card in the nip without jamming and with a minimum of wear upon the cards.

Although the lower roll 25 may be of a length greater thanthe transverse dimension of the I less than the length of aperture 38, said roll'and V card, the upper roll is preferably of a length slightly less than the length of the aperture 38. The purpose of this arrangement will be hereinafter more-fully described.

A pairof triangular frame members 61 are mountedupon the upper portions of standards is being secured thereto by bolts 68 which, between the standards carry a spacer sleeve 69. A shaft it is journaled at its ends at one corner of each of the frame members 67 and carries a upon reel H and a belt H is trained around both pulleys. When roll 24 rotates, tension is set up A pulley i5 is carried upon reel l2 and a smaller pulley 16 is carried I speed greater than reel 72. Hence, regardless of the quantity of web wound upon reels H and'IZ,

that is, the winding or unwinding diameter of the.

rolls, web is between rolls 2d and reel H will always be taut. Of course, at certain times slippage of the belt 11 is contemplated.

The type characters 39 carried upon the inner faces of the flaps 33 of cards 32 comprises a material which is rendered transferrable by liquid. The liquid, which may comprise water, alcohol or other like solvent may be carried .in a cup 18 carried by a fitting 19 which may include a sightglass 89, the fitting 19 being mounted upon one of the triangular frame members W by means of a bracket 8!. A flexible tube 82 may connect the fitting 19 to a web moistener 83 supported upon a rockable bar 84 journaled at its ends in opposite standards IS.

The web moistener 83 comprises a relatively flat housing 85 which is open along one side. [The opposite side carries a nipple 86 which connects with the'flexible tube 82. A wick 8'! comprising an absorbent material such as felt or'the like is positioned within the housing 85 and has an edge portion which protrudes from the open edgeof the housing. A pin 88 is mounted upon a collar 89 which, in turn, is rigidly mounted upon bar'84, said pin, at its end, being connected to coil spring 90 anchored at its opposite end upon a second pin 9! carried upon one frame member 2. The arrangement is such that spring 90 tends to rock bar 84 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, thereby bringing the protrudingedge of the wick 81 into contact with the face of web 74 while said web is carried around roll 2%. Thus, the face of the web is moistened with a liquid which will effect the transfer of the type 39 to the face of the web when the web meets the cards in the nip of rolls 2d and 25.

' By virtue of the fact that roll 24 is of a length the web M carried thereby are brought into intimate contact with the face of the typed indicia 39 unimpeded by the main body portion 35 of the card, that is, the pressure 'exerted'by springs 3! in forcing roll 25 toward roll 24 is brought to bear directly upon the typed portion of the flap 33 without the interpositioned thickness of the main body portion 35 of the card.

It is desirable in transferring the impression of indicia 39 upon web N that the individual I indicia of adjacent units 32 be spaced, in transfer, as closely as possible upon Web Ell, hence, the desirability of overlapping the units in the operating station and also the desirability of positioning the aperture 38 in each card as close as possible to the leading edge of the card.

Another feature of the card construction which is ofimportance is that the flap 33 is shorter in width than the main body 35 of the card and that the panel 34, when the card is incollapsed position, as shown best in Fig. 12,,isdispo's'ed with its edge closely adjacent the free edge of the flap 33. By this arrangement the cards are of substantially uniform thickness throughout-and, hence, when stacked, as in the hopper Al; the

individual cards Will occupy a substantially horizontal position throughout the height of the stack and will not be canted at a cumulatively chang- 9 ing angle from the bottom of the stack to the top thereof.

After'the cards 32 have passed between rolls 24 and,25 they are discharged from the nip of said rolls onto conveyor belts 92 which are trained around shaft 8. A- support 93 is mounted upon base I by means of a hinge 94 and at the opposite end of said support a pair of standards 95 are positioned which support a roller 96 over which belts 92 are also trained. A delivery platform 91 having an inclined portion 98 provides means for accumulating the cards traveling upon the belts 92.

Although my invention has been described in conjunction with an operation wherein printing cards are fed forwardly to an operating station to print impressions on a moving web, my invention broadly contemplates the feeding forwardly of impression members of any type or the feeding of such sheet material units as envelopes or the like, wherein the units are fed at a predetermined speed to an operating station wherein the speed of the units is reduced, the units moving through the operating station in overlapped relationship in a continuous or uninterrupted manner. In the case of printing cards being fed into contacting printing engagement with a moving web, both the cards and web move in a continuous and uninterrupted manner. v

I claim as my invention: v i g 1. A machine of the class described comprising laterally spaced means for carrying unit printing elements forwardly in spaced relationship to each other, a pair of opposed pressure rolls rotating about axes disposed transvers to the movement of said carrying means having a nip into which said units are fed, means for rotating said rolls at a predetermined peripheral speed, means for passing a web through the nip of said rolls, said nip being straddled by said laterally spaced carrying means, and means for moving said carrying means at a linear speed greater than the peripheral speed of said rolls to pass said printing elements between said rolls in overlapping relationship with each other and in printing relationship with said web.

2. A machine of the class described comprising means for carrying unit printing elements forwardly in spaced relationship, a pair of opposed pressure rolls laterally disposed with respectvto said carrying means between which said units are fed, said rolls having an axes transverse to the direction of travel of said carrying means, means for rotating said rolls at a, predetermined peripheral speed, means for passing a web between said rolls, and means for moving said carrying means at a linear speed greater than the peripheral speed of said rolls to pass said printing elements between said rolls in printing relationship with said web.

3. A machine of the class described comprising an endless conveyor for carrying units of folded,

sheet material with the fold foremost, members carried upon said conveyor for engaging in the fold of one of said units to pull the unit forwardly with the conveyor, a pair of opposed rolls, means for driving said rolls at a predetermined peripheral speed, means for moving said conveyor at a linear speed greater than the peripheral speed of said rolls, said conveyor being adapted to carry said unit to the nip of said rolls whereby the folded portion of said unit is grasped in the nip of said rolls, and means for disengaging said members from the foldof said unit immediately before said unit is grasped by said rolls.

4. A machine of the class described comprising a pair of laterally spaced endless conveyors for carrying units of sheet material, members carriedupon said conveyors for engaging one of saidunits to carry the unit forwardly with the conveyors, a pair of opposed rolls one of which is disposed between said conveyors, means for driving said rolls at a predetermined peripheral speed about axes disposed transverse to the direction of travel of said conveyors, means for moving said conveyors at a linear speed greater than the peripheral speed: of said rolls, said conveyors being adapted to carry said unit to the nip of saidrolls whereby said unit istgrasped in the nip of said rolls, and means for disengaging said unit is grasped'byv said rolls.

5. A machine of the class described comprising an endless conveyor, means for moving said conveyor in endless fashion, means upon said conveyor for releasably engaging'a printing card, a

' the card is grasped and carried forwardlyby said rolls, means adjacent said conveyor for disengaging said card engaging means when said card is grasped'by said rolls, and means for passing, a web between said rolls in printing relationship with said printing card.

6; A machine of the class described comprising an endless conveyor, means for moving, said conveyor in endless fashion, fingers pivotally carried upon said conveyor for engaging in the fold'of a folded printing card, a pair of opposedrolls, means for rotating saidrolls in timed relationship With the movement of said conveyor, said conveyor being adapted to deliver said card to the nip of said rolls wherein the card is grasped and carried forwardly by said rolls, means adjacent said conveyor for rocking said fingers about their pivots to disengage the fingers from the fold of the card when the card isgrasped by the rolls, and means for passing a web between said rolls in printing relationship with the printing card.

'7. A machine of the class described comprising an endless conveyor including a pair of parallel endless flexible members disposed in spaced relation to, each other, a pivoted finger carried by each member in transverse alignment with each other for engaging in the fold of a folded printing card, a pair of opposed rolls adjacent the end of one pass of the conveyor, means for moving said conveyor in endless fashion, means for moving said rolls in timed relationship with the movement of the conveyor, said conveyor being adapted to deliver said card to the nip of said rolls wherein the card is grasped and carried forwardly by said rolls, means adjacent said conveyor for rocking said fingers about their pivots to disengage the fingers from the fold of said card when the card is grasped by the rolls, and means for passing a web between said rolls in printing relationship with the printing card.

8. A machine of the class described comprising an endless conveyor including a pair of parallel endless flexible members disposed in spaced relation to each other, a pivoted finger carried by each member in transverse alignment with each other for engaging in the fold of a folded printing card, a pair of opposed rolls adjacent the end of one pass of the conveyor, means for moving said conveyor in endless fashion, means for moving said rolls at a peripheral speed different from 11' the linear speed of said conveyor, said conveyor being adapted to deliver said card to the nip of saidrolls wherein the card is grasped and carried forwardly by said rolls, means adjacent said conveyor for rocking said fingers about their pivots to disengage the fingers from the fold of said card when the card is grasped by the rolls, and means for passing a web between said rolls in printing relationship with the printing card.

9. A machine of the class described comprising an endless conveyor, means for moving said conveyor in an endless fashion, means upon said conveyor for releasably engaging a printing card carrying indicia formed from a liquid-transferable inscrible material, a pair of opposed rolls, means for rotating said rolls in timed relationship with the movement of said conveyor, said conveyor being adapted to deliver said card to the nip of said rolls wherein the card is grasped and carried forwardly by said rolls, means adjacent said conveyor for disengaging said card engaging means when said card is grasped by said rolls, means for passing a web between said rolls inprinting relationship with said printing card, and means for moistening said web before the same enters the nip of the rolls.

10. A machine of the class described comprising an endless conveyor for carrying, units of folded sheet material with the fold foremost, members carried upon said conveyor for engaging in the fold of one of said units to pull the unit forwardly with the conveyor, a pair of opposed rolls, means for driving said rolls at a predetermined peripheral speed, means for moving said conveyor at a linear speed greater than the peripheral speed of said rolls, said conveyor being 12. adapted to carry said unit to the nip of said rollswhereby the fold of said unit is initially grasped in the nip of said rolls, and means for disengaging said members from said unit at substantially the same time said unit is grasped by said rolls.

ERNST C. SAUERMAN.

REFERENCES orrnn The ifollowing references are of record inthe file ofthis patent: v

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